In-plant Profiles

Even as its new Presstek 52DI direct imaging press brings World Bank Printing Services into the short-run four-color offset market, the busy in-plant is expanding its digital printing business with the addition of Océ and Kodak equipment. The new capabilities, all added within the past six months, have caused a reshuffling of work inside the 41-employee Washington, D.C.-based operation. The July addition of a two-color Océ 9220 roll-fed printer allowed the in-plant to move black-and-white book text and other short-run web jobs off of its web presses. At the same time, longer-run book pages were transferred to the 9220 from the shop’s cut-sheet digital

IF AN in-plant’s success is measured by its growth, Auburn University’s CopyCat operation is a big winner. Much of this can be attributed to Glenda Miley, who has grown the shop into a full-service, state-of-the-art facility in her 13 years there. “Every year we have done better than the year before,” she attests. “We are always innovative, never stagnant. We stay on the cutting edge.” Born in Montgomery, Ala., and raised in that area, Miley started her graphic arts career while still in high school. She worked summers as a copyreader with Books Inc., a company that turned hardcover books into paperbacks. After studying

EVERY IN-PLANT strives to be an asset to its parent organization. Spartan Stores’ Graphic Services department takes this even further. The in-plant’s 82 “associates” work tirelessly to give their parent company a strategic advantage over the competition in the wholesale and retail food distribution business. And what is this strategic advantage? Well, versatility for one. The in-plant provides so many services it can meet virtually any demand. It can take a job from design through fulfillment, while offering excellent customer service. Convenience and fast turnaround are other strategic advantages. The 36,000-square-foot in-plant is housed right at the Spartan Stores corporate office in Byron Center,

The purchase of two Riso V8000 digital presses has given the University of Tennessee at Martin Digital Printing Services a new lease on life. A few years ago, the in-plant seemed to be in trouble. Its machinery was very old and some of its presses were broken. “Life expectancy for the print shop looked very dim,” says Susie Nanney, director of Information Technology Services Computer Store and Digital Printing Services. In the summer of 2005, the university’s Information Technology Services began managing the print shop and transformed it into a digital workplace, rebranding it “Digital Printing Services.” That fall, the in-plant added its first Riso V8000 digital

TWENTY-THREE YEARS ago, Keith St. Clair got a tip that a local print shop was looking for an employee. Knowing nothing about the printing business, he thought it sounded like an advantageous career path and took the job. “I didn’t know what to expect,” says St. Clair, now print shop production manager at Grocery Supply Co., in Sulphur Springs, Texas. “I thought I would just stand around and the machines would do all the work.” He quickly learned he would not be doing a lot of standing around. Born and raised in Sulphur Springs, about 80 miles east of Dallas, St. Clair graduated high school and entered

A partial, temporary shutdown allowed the Print Shop at Burlington County College to expand its digital color printing capabilities. Last June, the six-employee operation in Pemberton, N.J., was forced to crate its presses and move its remaining equipment across the hall into temporary quarters so the college could complete a heating/air conditioning replacement project in its area. To continue serving the color printing needs of customers during this disruption, Manager Stephen Amitrano arranged a three-month loan of a Konica Minolta bizhubPRO C500. The 50-ppm machine performed so well that Amitrano decided to keep it once the shop returned to its digs. “It’s a life saver,” he

IPG Editor Bob Neubauer takes a tour of Mellon Financial’s Philadelphia in-plant with Mike Renn, assistant VP of Core Services.

Purdue University has just appointed Cheryl Purefoy director of Printing Services. Scheduled to start in January, Purefoy will oversee the 60+ staff who design, produce and mail more than 25,000 production print jobs annually at Purdue. She will also coordinate the in-plant’s relocation into a new 29,000-square-foot facility, with construction to be completed in mid-2007. Purefoy, director of Printing and Mail Services at The University of Akron, fills the position vacated by Sandy Komasinski, who took early voluntary partial retirement in May. Purefoy brings more than 21 years of managerial experience, 15 of which were in the printing industry. She has served on numerous graphic

Figment Designs, a Miami-based advertising agency, has started a new in-plant. Two months ago the company purchased a new five-color Heidelberg Printmaster PM 52 along with a Prosetter 52 violet CTP device, and hired three employees to run the equipment. After exceeding $400,000 a year in printing costs, co-owner Jeff Pankey said the shop brought printing in-house to control costs and better meet deadlines. “You want your clients to rely on your deadlines and promises; therefore, you have to have equipment you can rely on,” Pankey says. So far, the results have been excellent. Since installing the new gear, profitability has soared to 12-18 percent,

The U.S. Department of State’s in-plant has won a $164 million contract to handle the department’s printing for the next decade, beating out some tough competition from commercial printers. The award decision culminated an 18-month public-private competition, comparing the government’s ability to provide graphic design and creation, copier management and a standardized worldwide publishing workflow with the private sector bidders’ ability to provide the same service. The competition was part of the government’s Competitive Sourcing initiative. The Department of State expects to save approximately $80 million dollars over the life of the contract, with improved quality and increased capability to reach overseas audiences. “The biggest winner here